NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43 - National Team Selection (5)
Chapter 43: National Team Selection (5)
Now that the team battle was over, it was time for individual matches.
Unlike the World League, which typically progressed through league matches and ended with a 16-team tournament, Korea’s competition was simply a league match format.
Each competitor played a total of 10 matches.
A win earned 3 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss resulted in -1 point.
If a match wasn’t decided within 10 minutes, it was considered a draw.
The top 10 players with the highest points were selected.
And this time, Baek Jin-woo employed a new strategy.
He made Hun-gyo the main tank, stalling while Dol-dol, cloaked in invisibility, stacked buffs from Lamba.
Afterward?
Once enough stacks were accumulated, Dol-dol slashed at incredible speed multiple times.
Do you know what happens then?
It appeared as though Hun-gyo himself was using Dol-dol’s skills.
– Ah! No surprises here! Player Baek Jin-woo secures yet another victory!
– But again, we couldn’t see what happened just now, could we?
– Indeed, I could vaguely sense something, but… I couldn’t tell what it was! Could it be a hidden skill of the summoned creature, Training Instructor, as the caster suggests?
– Whatever it is, it’s astounding!
Dol-dol had two skills.
[Skill Set]
– Assassinate: Turns invisible for a short period, and the first attack deals 100% critical damage.
– Gale Impact: Spins its scythe in a circular motion, dealing area-of-effect damage.
The combination of Assassinate and Gale Impact was where Dol-dol’s absurd power came to light.
Dol-dol’s basic attack itself was equivalent to “Gale Impact.”
This meant the skill had no cooldown—it was passive.
In other words?
If Dol-dol performed many basic attacks, it dealt continuous splash damage.
And when Lamba’s stacks were added to this?
“Just pure obliteration.”
The moment Dol-dol’s invisibility wore off, it unleashed rapid basic attacks at lightning speed, instantly annihilating all enemy summons with burst damage.
“Even without fully equipped runes…”
It was still enough to handle Korea’s rankers with ease.
– Player Baek Jin-woo’s approach is clean yet aggressive, isn’t it?”
– He’s yet to let any match last longer than a minute! All five rounds so far—complete victories!
He’s currently tied for first place with Kang Gun-ho!”
– And now! The next match is against Kang Gun-ho!”
– Indeed, this is exciting! A showdown between the top two contenders!”
At last, the moment came for the match against Kang Gun-ho, the first-place player.
Arriving in the waiting room, Baek Jin-woo glanced at him.
“This is my first time seeing him in person.”
Kang Gun-ho was the vice-guild master of the Baekho Guild.
He was in his early 30s.
[Please prepare for the Player Battle.]
“Let’s have a good match.”
Kang Gun-ho initiated a greeting, and Baek Jin-woo responded courteously.
“Yes, same here.”
As they say, good manners define a person.
Since his opponent showed respect, Baek Jin-woo returned the favor.
Both stepped onto the rectangular marble platform and summoned their creatures.
Naturally, Dol-dol was summoned in a cloaked state.
[Are you ready?]
[Y/N]
When both sides pressed Y, the wide protective barrier in the center disappeared.
Then, the match would end once all five of the opponent’s summons were forcibly unsummoned.
“Hmm.”
Baek Jin-woo scanned Kang Gun-ho’s summons.
Two White Earth Dragons, an Earth Fairy, a Horned Eagle, and a Great Nature Sage.
Rankers typically had diverse pools of summoned creatures, making it hard to predict what they would summon in each match.
They often adjusted their summons or runes depending on the opponent.
“The setup is solid.”
It was impressive.
The Earth Fairy boosted the elemental damage of the tanky White Earth Dragons, while the Horned Eagle applied an attack power buff.
On top of that, the healer Great Nature Sage ensured sustainability.
The specific runes weren’t visible, but the composition alone was well-balanced.
If Baek Jin-woo didn’t have EX-grade summons, this lineup might have been difficult to overcome.
“But, well.”
Now, he had EX-grade summons.
Four of them, in fact.
“Yes.”
There was no need for further deliberation.
He pressed Y immediately.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Player Battle Start!]
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The moment the match began, Lamba started stacking buffs on Dol-dol.
Woooom!
Explosion Dragon began charging its Dragon Explosion Wave.
Taah!
Hun-gyo stepped forward, raising his sword diagonally.
With a resolute determination to single-handedly block any attack, he stood firm.
The Wind Falcon cast a movement speed buff on Hun-gyo.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!
The opponent didn’t remain idle either.
The two White Earth Dragons burrowed beneath the marble floor.
At the same time, the Earth Fairy and Horned Eagle cast their buffs.
“Hun-gyo, the strategy remains the same.”
He needed to hold the backline for one minute.
To do so?
Shhh!
Hun-gyo raised his sword high into the air, a white aura enveloping the blade.
Sword energy!
The strength of White Earth Dragons in player battles was their ability to target backlines by burrowing underground.
However, Hun-gyo retained memories of 「Battle of Summoners.」
His experiences with JinuGod were vast and varied.
White Earth Dragons?
Just attack underground—it’s that simple.
– Hmph!”
Exhaling sharply, Hun-gyo thrust his sword downward.
The sword energy split into two and pierced the ground like spears.
Crash, crash, crash!
Eerily, the sword energy struck the vital points of the two White Earth Dragons underground.
– Kiiieeek!
– Kiiiaaaahhh!
Unable to endure the pain, they leaped to the surface.
The moment they emerged, shaking off dirt, they flailed violently.
“W-What is this?”
Kang Gun-ho was flustered as he observed.
Hitting White Earth Dragons underground?
He had never seen such an unbelievable summon before.
“Indeed.”
That summon.
It was extraordinary.
When he first watched the highlights from the team battles, how astonished he was!
Overwhelming top 10 rankers like Oh Sun-young, Oh Ji-myung, and Park Ho-seop with a single summon!
Watching that, he knew he stood no chance from the beginning.
“But still.”
He wanted to give it his all.
Setting aside the pride of being ranked first, it was his genuine determination as a player.
“Great Nature Sage!”
Whoooosh!
The druid-like summon, resembling an ancient forest spirit, waved its staff, causing a refreshing breeze to blow.
Its skill, Forest’s Healing, provided wide-area healing.
The unique trait of the skill gave a bonus healing effect to large summons.
– Kieek!
– Kiaaaaaa!
The two White Earth Dragons, now fully healed, roared in rage at Hun-gyo.
Hun-gyo, however, simply stood calmly with his sword drawn.
There was no need to attack first.
His task was to endure for exactly one minute.
Thanks to Lamba, equipped with a world-class Graduation Rune, that minute was all Dol-dol needed to stack an absurd number of buffs.
And.
“There’s no time.”
Kang Gun-ho was well aware of this too.
Before the match began, the Baekho Guild manager had quickly shown him Baek Jin-woo’s match records.
“Something strange is going to happen soon. I have to finish this before then…”
But how?
There was no way.
Looking at the figure of Hun-gyo standing with his sword raised, Kang Gun-ho felt suffocated.
“A fortress.”
The opponent exuded an impenetrable aura, as though no attack could break through.
Still, he couldn’t afford to stand idle.
“Charge!”
Crash, crash, crash!
At Kang Gun-ho’s command, the two White Earth Dragons charged at Hun-gyo simultaneously.
However.
Taah!
With light footwork, Hun-gyo leapt into the air and ran along the surface of the White Earth Dragons’ scales.
“Kieeek!”
The two White Earth Dragons twisted and scratched at each other’s bodies in a futile attempt to catch Hun-gyo.
Tap, tap, tap!
Despite their massive bodies, they couldn’t keep up with Hun-gyo, who moved with the speed buff he had received.
And then.
“One minute has passed.”
Baek Jin-woo glanced at Dol-dol, still cloaked in invisibility.
“Grrrr…”
Dol-dol, now positioned at the center of the field, raised its scythe with a sinister grin.
Swish!
The scythe spun once.
Swish, swish!
It spun twice, three times, and four times.
All in the span of about one second.
Yet in that brief time, the HP of Kang Gun-ho’s summons plummeted rapidly.
The speed was so absurdly fast that it felt hollow and almost laughable.
“What just happened?! What was that?!”
“Didn’t you see something black just now?!”
The commentators struggled to analyze, but they couldn’t see anything in detail.
Dol-dol, having annihilated all enemies, had gone back into stealth mode.
At best, the camera might have captured a fleeting glimpse of a scythe-wielding black figure.
[All of Player Kang Gun-ho’s summons have been forcibly unsummoned.]
[The Player Battle has concluded.]
A clean and overwhelming victory for Baek Jin-woo!
Even in a match against Korea’s number one ranker, there was no upset.
At that moment.
Yoo Ji-ah’s expression was one of pure delight.
It resembled the face of Manchester United’s coach Mourinho after a stunning comeback victory.
“As expected of JinuGod. There’s no doubt now. Jin-woo is the legendary JinuGod!”
Who else could pull off such performances?
In the team battle, he wiped out three rankers in an instant!
In the individual matches, he maintained an unbroken streak of clean wins against every player.
Even Kang Gun-ho, Korea’s number one ranker, was forced to kneel before him.
“Is this even possible?”
Yoo Ji-ah still found it hard to believe.
No matter how extraordinary JinuGod was, he had barely started, so how could he display such overwhelming power already?
Beside her, Kim Byung-jin, Hwang Tae-seop, and Park Chang-seok were hugging each other and jumping around every time Baek Jin-woo won.
Especially Park Chang-seok.
He was grinning so widely his white teeth were fully visible.
And why wouldn’t he?
Not only had he completely humiliated Im Hee-su, who always looked down on him, but he was also on track to achieve an outright victory—not just a spot in the top ten but a dominant championship win.
The only entity capable of controlling Baek Jin-woo now was YooBaek.
“Yoo Ji-ah! No, I should call you Madam Representative now! Representative Yoo!”
Excitedly wiping his sweat, Park Chang-seok approached Yoo Ji-ah.
“Convincing you to recruit Baek Jin-woo as YooBaek’s ace was the best decision of my life.”
“Fufu, you certainly had the right eye for it, Counselor.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I might not know much else, but I’m excellent at judging people. Hahaha!”
“Now, Counselor, all that’s left for you is to flourish in your political career. Jin-woo participated as your representative player, so the people will recognize you.”
It was a win-win situation.
YooBaek continued to support Park Chang-seok, and Park Chang-seok used his increased influence to further back YooBaek.
From start to finish, everything was going exactly as Yoo Ji-ah had planned.
“Player Baek Jin-woo! He’s absolutely unstoppable! Seven consecutive wins! At this rate, he’s headed for a perfect 10-match sweep!”
“Of course! He took down the God of War, Kang Gun-ho, in under a minute. What more needs to be said?”
Amidst the commentary’s excitement, Baek Jin-woo continued his streak of victories.
“He secures his eighth match! It’s the same flawless strategy as before!”
“There’s simply no way to counter this! Baek Jin-woo! Baek Jin-woo is our hope!”
“Ha, hahaha…”
Yoo Ji-ah let out a hollow laugh.
Jin-woo.
How much further are you planning to astonish us?
The ninth match, and even the final tenth match.
Baek Jin-woo remained unshaken.
With the same strategy, he finished them just as he had before.
Overwhelmingly.
As if to say, “This is the limit of your abilities,” he didn’t even change his tactics.
“Ten consecutive wins! Player Baek Jin-woo! He’s writing a legend!”
“With this, Baek Jin-woo claims the championship! He’s not just a national representative—he’s the captain now!”
“Hahaha, at this level of dominance… We might as well look forward to the World League! It’s clear he’ll be a top ranker next year too!”
Listening to the excited commentary, Yoo Ji-ah closed her eyes.
“I’ve found it.”
She instinctively realized it.
Just like her grandfather before her, she had finally found the enterprise she would devote her entire life to building.
YooBaek.
Supporting Baek Jin-woo wasn’t just patriotic—it was the fastest path to success.
And above all, it was thrilling.
After the clean victory, Yoo Ji-ah smiled brightly as she watched Baek Jin-woo emerge with a calm expression.
And she made a vow.
Just as she had done so far, she would continue to support him with all her strength.